Sewing machine



Aug. 9, 1932. A. B. FOWLER 1,870,844

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Patented Aug. 9, 1932 FFICE ALFRED B. FOWLER, DECEASED, LATE 015BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, BY MARY F. FOWLER, ADMINISTRATRIX, OF'BEVERLY,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OFPATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF new JERSEY SEWING MACHINEApplication filed. June 11, 1926; Serial No. 115,202.

The present invention relates to machines for sewing soles to theuppersof boots and shoes and, more particularly to that type known aslock stitch McKay'shoe sewingma- The object of the invention is toprovide a novel and improved'lock stitch" machine of the McKay type withparticular reference'to the improvement of the mechanisms for han- 1odling the thread.

\Vith this object in view, the several features of the invention consistin the devices, combinations, and arrangement of parts here,- inafterdescribed and claimed which,.together with the advantages to be obtainedthereby,

will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a ii lock stitch McKay shoesewing machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe head of the machine. Fig. 3 is a right side elevation of the head ofthe machine. Fig. 4 is a left side elevation. of

- tlie head of the machine. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view of the headof the machine taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail viewin side elevation of the take-up and pulloff mechanisms. Fig. 7 is afront elevation Fig. 8 is across sectional view of the slides foroperating the pull-off and take-up mechanisms. Fig. 9 is a detail frontview taken on line 99 of Fig. 12 of certain parts of the loop takinghook at! mechanism including the central shaft and its two superimposedsleeves for imparting to the hook its required motions. Fig. 10 is asectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9 showing the shaftsleeves and the bob- -bin case. Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view takenon the line 1111 of Fig. '9. Fig. 12 is a plan view partly in sectionshowing the bobbin case, the hook and its supporting and actuatingmechanisms. Figs. 13 to 24 inclu- 'SlVG are sectional views illustratingsomewhat diagrammatically the operation of the needle, bobbin case andloop taking hook in forming a stitch.

The lock stitch McKay shoe sewing machine herein disclosed includes astraight hooked needle, a work supporting horn of usual construction toextend within the shoe .and being provided with the usual whirl tosupply thread to the needle, and an awl which ismounted on a feed slideand which is operated to perforate the work for the passage of theneedle and to feed the work to align the perforations accurately withthe needle. The thread handling devices include a bobbin case and a looptaking hook of novel design and a.

clutch and driving mechanism similarto that r disclosed by the" patentto Richardson No.

885,328 and controlled by means of the foot treadle 42.

The awl is adjustably held in a clamp 44 on the lower end of the awl bar46 which is mounted. to slide vertically in brackets 48 on thefeed slide50, A pin 52 journalled in the upper end of the awl bar supports a block54 which isadapted to move in the slot 56 formed in the end of the lever58 so that the awl bar is at alltimes op eratively connected with thelever during the back and forth movement of the feed slide. The lever 58is mounted on one end of the rock shaft 60 journalled in the machineframe. In order to turn the rock shaft I 6O and thus cause the awl tomove to and from the work the shaft is provided at its other end'with alever 62 which carries a cam roll 64 to engage a groove in the face ofthe cam 66.

The feed slide is mounted to reciprocate on horizontal bars 72 fixed tothe machineframe and is actuated from the cam 74 on the sewing shaft bymeans of a lever 7 6 having a fulcrum at 78 on the machine frame and acam roll 80 to engagea groove in the face of the cam. A slidingconnection is V 5 carries also the lever arm 102 with the cam presserfoot bar 108 which is adapted to slide provided between the lever 7 6and the feed slide comprising a block 82 pivotally mounted on the lowerend of the lever and designed to move in a vertical slot 84 formed onthe rear side of the feed slider WVith this arrangement of the parts itwill be seen that the awl is given two positivelines of movement, one toand from the work imparted by; the lever 58 and its actuatlng'mechanism, "and the other backand; forth in the line of feed with thefeed slide, this movement being so timed that the awl is moved forwardwhile in engagement with the work and is retracted after the awl hasbeen withdrawn preparatory for punching another hole. v i v The needleis carried on the lower end of the vertical needle bar 86 which issupported by brackets 88 and 90 on the machine frame. A collar 92fastened to the bar forms a pivotal support for the parallel links 94which connect thenedle bar to its actuating lever 96 pivoted on shaft98. The sleeve 100,

which formsthe hub of the needle lever 96 roll 104 adapted to engage acam groove in the periphery of the cam 66.

The presser foot 32 is ad ed in a block 106 on the lower end of the inbrackets 110, 112 and 114m the machine frame. The presser foot bar isforced down against the work by means of the spring 116 coiled about thebar between a collar 118 on the bar and the bracket 112, the downwardmovement being limited by the engagement of the nut 122 on the upper endof the presser foot bar with the bracket 110.

Mechanism for lifting'thepresser foot is provided consisting of acollar124 loosely mounted von the presser foot bar and containing a, bearingfor the cam lever 126 having the eccentric cam surfacei127 adapted tocome into contact'with a recessed surface 128 an the. presser foot bar.The collar 124 is normally held in its lowest position resting againstthe bracket 112 by means of a spring 129 coiled about the presserfootbar and inserted between the collar 124 and bracket 110. I The camlever 126 at its outer end engages the slot'130 in the presser footlifting lever 132 which is a-djustably clamped to the rock shaft 134 bymeans of a split hub and the. set screw. 136. 7 Another lever 138attached to the rock shaft carries a cam roll 140 adapted to ride on theperiphery of cam 66. As the lifting lever 132 is raised under theinfluence of theocam 66 the cam lever 126 is turned about its pivotcausing the cam surface acting in con unct1on with V the collar 124 togrip thepresser footbar whichis lifted a uniform distance-against thepressure of the springs 116 and 129 to disengage the work."

'ustably mount-- At the end of the feeding operation, the shaft 134 isagain rocked by the cam 66 allowing the presser foot to be forced downinto clamping engagement with the work. A

, locking device is provided to hold the presser foot bar in clampingposition which comprises a roll 142 inserted between the inclinedsurface 144 and a slightly-recessed surface 146 of the presser foot barand held in yielding contact. with these surfaces by means of the springplunger 148. In order to'release the locking mechanism preparatory tolifting the presser foot a lever 149 clamped to the rock shaft5150 by asplit hub and set screw A 152 is adapted to bear on the upper side ofthe roll and force it downward against the pressure of thespring'plunger 148. The shaft 150 is rocked for this purpose by means ofa lever 153 mounted on the shaft and having at its outer end a cam roll154 to engage the peripher'y'of the cam 66. A spring 156 stretchedbetween a pin 158 on the lever 149 and a point on the machine frametends to press the roll 154 against its'cam and keeps the lever 149normally out of engagement with the locking roll 142,

Thebobbin case 34 is loosely mounted in a holder which comprises aninner guard 160 rigidly secured to the'bracket 161 of the machine frameby'means of two rearwardly pro--- guard is in the proper closedposition. A leaf spring 173 secured tolthe bracket 161 extends beneaththe bobbin case between thejguard plates and assists in supporting thecase and also serves as a means for retaining the loop of needle threadwhich has-been passed over the bobbin case out of'the path of the doscending needle;

The bobbin case 34, with its guard plates I 160 and 166, is locatedin'advance of the needle in the direction'of feed and slightly to i therear, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 4a'nd' 5. The loop taking hook 36 ismounted so as to rotate bodily througha portion of a revolution? aboutthe bobbin case and its point or beak is arranged to enter the needleloop from the'sideremote from the bobbin case and take remote from thebobbin case and to take the loop directly from the needle and carry itover the bobbin case, the hook is given a bodily axial movement and alsoa bodily movement transverse to its axis in addition to its movement ofrotation.

the loop directly from the'needle. To enable f the hook t'oenter theside of the needle loop The mechanism for imparting to the loop takinghook 36 the required "motions com-1i prises a central shaft 174 havingbearings at 176 and 17 8in the machine frame and two sleeves 180 and 182superimposedon one another and constrained to turn with the shaft,

and away from. the axis of the shaft. The central shaft 17 4 is turnedthrough an angle suflicient to cause the hook to carry the new loop overthe bobbincase by means of a lever 184 mounted on a sleeve 186 on therock'shaft 66 on the lower end of'which isformed the gear segment 188 tomesh with the gear 190.

on the shaft 1! 4. The-lever 184 is actuated from the cam 7 4 throughthe engagement of the cam roll 192 on a'lever arm 194 projecting fromthe sleeve 186 .with-a groove in thefface of the cam;

the shaft while at the same time being allowed a limited movement alongits axis by means of a pm 196 fixed in the sleeve and passing,

through a slot 198 in the shaft. yFor moving the sleeve along the shafta lever 200 is pro vided pivoted on theirock shaft 202 and carrying tworolls 204 on its forked lower end to engage the grooved flange 206 onthe sleeve.

The rock shaft has also fastened'toit a lever arm 208. which is'pivotally connected by a link 210 with one end of a'bell crank lever212 constrained to turn with the central shaft. and the transversemovement is given a definite direction with relation to the angularposition of the shaft, by the engagement of slide-- ways or grooves 220formed on the sleeve 182 with the guide block 216. .A'bracket222 isfastened by means of four screws 224 to the shdeways 22601 the outersleeveand carries the loop taking hook 36 which is rigidly clamped tothe 'projccting arm 226 of the bracket by meansof a set screw 228. The

inner surface 230 of thexbracket 222 is rec- I tangular, in shape and isadapt-ed to engage a square portion 232 on the central shaft 174 whichforms an. additional guiding surface for the transverse movement of thebracket and the outer sleeve 182;

The mechanism for giving the outer sleeve 3 and the loop taking hook amotion transverse needle. (See Figs. 15 and 18.) point the hook is movedtransversely to enter tion of the take-up. a

to the axis of the sleeve'comp rises a lever rigidly clamped to a sleeve234 on the rock shaft 150;and slotted at its lower end to embrace abearing surface 236 onthe sleeve182. Another lever arm 139 clamped tothe sleeve 234 carries a cam roll 240 to engage a groove in the faceofthe cam 74. V

The successive positions taken by the hook 36 during'the cycle ofoperations are illustrated step by step in Figs. 18 to 24 inclusive. Asshown in Fig. 13,.the shaft 174 has been rotated clockwise to carry'thehook to the 4 limit ofits movement-in this direction. Then as the needlewithdraws from the work the hook ismoved forward axially with respect tothe shaft 174 and transversely away from the axis so that the point ofthe hook is in a position to enter thenew loop formed by the From thisthe loop from the side remote from the hook and is then retractedaxially and'rotated to The inner sleeve 180 is keyedto turn with takethe loop'over the bobbin case. 7

V In the machine herein illustrated the stitch is setagainst a threadlock bythe loop taking hook 36 above described. "A takeup ieem-' ployedto pull the needle loop down part way to the work, and to furtherfacilitate the handling of the thread a pull-off and an addiv tional.thread lock are provided for measure 111g off the necessary thread foreach succeeding stitch. The amount of thread pulled from I the supply bythe pull-01f is adjusted automatically in accordance with the thicknessof the work so that the lock is set always the same distance into thematerial, and in order thatthe amount of thread drawn around the Vworkfrom the preceding loop by the needle may be a minimum and constantregardless ofjvariations in the thickness of the work means are alsoprovided for varying the ac- The thread lock against which the stitch isset comprisestwo members consisting respectively of a spring pressedplunger 242 mounted on the bracket 244 on the machine frame and a.clamping plate 246 mounted on the 244. i The lever 248 is pivotallymounted midway betweenthe clamping plates 246 and 250 upon a pivot 253in the bracket 244 and is p connected through link 254 to the canactuated slide 256. With this construction, as

the lever 248 is rock-ed one of the thread clamps is opened and theother closed. The

pull-off device is located between the two thread clamps and comprises afork 258 4' across which the thread'extends as it passes from the supplythrough the two thread clamps and 'a pull-off plunger rigidly conheatedthrough arm 260 to the camactuated slide 262 and notched at its tiptoreceive and bend the thread between thetwo arms of the fork258;

The take-up mechanism comprises the take-up lever .264 mounted. at itslower end on the pivot 253 and carrying the twotakeup rolls'266vwhiclico-operate with the stationary roll 268 to take up the slackthread.

The-take-up lever is connected by link 270 .to V the cam actuated slide272.

In order to provide for the automatic adjustment of the pull-off andtake up mechanisms in accordance withthe thickness of the work a lever274 is mounted on the rock shaft 276 to support the stationary roll 268before mentioned and also carries at its lower end the fork 258adjustably fastened to the lever by means of slot 278 and set screw 280.The

position of the lever 274 is controlled from the presser foot bar.-through COIlIlGCtlOIlS.

which include a lever arm 282 on therock shaft 276, link 284, a lever286, vertical conplication filed necting rod 288 and a lever 290.

"The feeding mechanism herein disclosed forms the subject-matter of adivisional ap- Octob'er 15, 1931, Serial No.

569,026. r v i -The invention having been thus described, what isclaimed is: r

1. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in combination, stitchforming'and setting devices including a hook needle operating duringits. retraction to draw thread from the preceding needle loop, a looptaker, a thread lock against which thestitch is set, a pull-off variableto. regulate the 'supply'of thread in accordance with the thickness ofthe Work, a

preceding needle loop, a loop taker acting to set the stitch, a threadlock against which the stitch is set,'a take-up acting to pull theneedle loop from the shuttle partially back through the work, apull-off, and means operating to vary the action of the take-up and thepull-off in accordance with the thickness of the work to cause the samelength of 7 loop to be left above the work bv the take-up.

8. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in

combination, stitch forming and setting de- 7 vices including ahookneedle operating during its retraction to draw thread from thepreceding needle loop, a loopjtaker acting:

to set the stitch, athread lock against which the stitch is set, atake-up acting to pull the needle loop partly back through the work, a

pull-off, and mechanism. controlled by the and the pull-.ofi inaccordance with the thickpresser foot to vary the action ofthe take-upness of the workto cause the same length of loop to be left above the:work by the take-up.

4:. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in

combination, stitch formingdevices including a hook needle, a worksupport, a bobbin- I case mounted to permit the passage of the? needleloop around it, and an oscillating loop-j taking hook' having additionalmovements along and transverse to 1tsax1s.:'

5. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in'

combination, stitch forming devices includ- 1ng a hook needle, a Worksupport, a bobbin case mounted to permit the passageof the needle looparound it and an oscillating hook arranged totake'the loop from theneedle over the bobbin caseand having additional movements along andtransverse to its axis.

6. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in combination, stitch formingdevices including a straight hook needle, a work supporting horn, abobbin case mounted to permit the passage of the needle loop around it,and a loop-taking hook oscillating about an axis transverse to the lineoffe'ed and having additional movements along and transversely of itsaxis. I V

7. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in combination, stitch formingdevices including a hook needle, a work support, a bobbin H case mountedto permit the passage of the needle loop around it, a loop-taking hook,and mechanism for imparting motion to the hook comprising a rock shaft,an inner sleeve keyed to slide on the shaft, an outer-sleevesuperimposed on the inner sleeve constrained to turn and slide with theinner sleeve and having a motion transversely of the shaft.

8. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in combination, stitch formingdevices including a hook needle, a work support, abobbin case mounted topermit thepassage of the needle loop around it, a loop taking hook,

a rock shaft for oscillating the hook, an inner sleeve keyed to slideonthe shaft for moving the hook axially. an outer :sleeve superim--posed on the inner sleeve to turn and slide with it and having anelliptical bore to permit a motion of the hook transversely to the axis.9. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in

combination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle, a worksupport, a discoidal bobbin casemounted inadvance of the needle in thedirection of feed-with its axis trans;

verse to the direction of feed, a loop takinghook, and means foractuating the hook to enter the needle loop from the side remote fromthe bobbin case and carry the loop over the bobbin case; I V f a 7 10. Alockstitch sewing machine having, in

combination, stitch forming devices including a straight hook needle, abobbin case, a'

loop taking hook mounted to oscillate about an axis transverse to theline of feed and perpendicular to the needle, and means for actuatingthe hook to enter the needle loop from the side remote from the bobbincase and carry the loop over the bobbin case.

11. A lockstitch sewing machine having, in

combination, stitch forming devices including a straight hook needle, abobbin case mounted in advance of the needle in the direction of feed, aloop taking hook mounted to oscillate about an axis transverse to theline of feed, and means for imparting to the hook oscillating and axialmovements and movements transversely of its axis to cause the hook toenter the needle loop from the side remote from the bobbin case andcarry the loop over the bobbin case.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' MARY F. FOWLER,

Admim'smtm'w 07 the Estate of Alfred B.

Fowler, Deceaae

